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o. M.\BEBBB. AUTOMATIC LIFE GUARD POR GARS.

No. 555,753. Patented Mar. 3. 1896.

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(No Model.) 2 sheetssheet 2..

G. M. BBEBE. AUTOMATIC LIFE GUARD P015 GARS.

No. 555,753. Patented M514. V5, 1895.

ATTORNEYS.

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CLARA M. BEEBE', OF ELMIRA, NEWV YORK.

AUTOMATIC LIFE-GUARD FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,753, dated March 3,1896.

Application iiled August 6 1895.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARA M. BEEBE, of Elmira, in the county of Ohemungand State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Automatic Life-Guard for Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved life-guard forstreet-cars, and one in which a shelf will be normally located under thebasket and the forward part of the car, and which will be capable ofprojection forwardly when a person is thrown down by a passing vehiclein front of the ear, or has been from any cause other than contact withthe car thrown down, or to prevent an arm or limb of the person frombeing dragged bencath the buffer.

This invention has relation to that described in my pending applicationfor Letters Patent of the United States, filed October 6, 1894, SerialNo. 525,122.

To this end the invention consists, generally stated, in a basketsupported at the front of the car and co-operating with a shelf which isprovided with springs having a tendency to project it forwardly, andalso with retaining devices whereby this tendency of the springs isovercome and the retaining devices are capable of operation to releasethe shelf when it is desired.

The invention will be fully described hereinafter, andwfinally embodiedin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section of my invention.Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asimilar view on the line 3 3 of the same figure. Fig. 4 is an invertedplan view of the invention, showing the catcher drawn rearwardly; andFig. 5 is a similar view with the catcher extended.

My invention comprises two longitudinal and parallel buffer arms 10,supported at their rear ends in hangers 17, in turn suspended from aswivel-plate 18, secured to the bottom of a car 19, while the front endsof the arms 10 are provided with a transverse vcontact with the edges.

Serial No. 558,384. (No model.)

buer 11 and supporting-wheels 12, which latter are designed to travel onthe tracks which support the car.

Supported on the arms 10 is a basket 20, and this support is effected bymeans of the springs 2l at the front of the basket and by the springs 22at the rear, the said. latter springs being connected to posts orstandards 23 rising from the respective arms 10.` The basket 2O hasrubber at its edges, serving as pads for protecting persons from violentDepending from the arms 10, and two for each of the same, are thebrackets 2S, each of which has journaled therein theantifriction-rollers 27, and these rollers are two for each bracket andarranged in vertical alignment, so that the plates 26 may have slidingmovement between them. By this construction it will be seen that each ofthe plates 26 is held to slide in guideways formed between two upper andtwo lower rollers 27, and it will also be seen that said plates 26 areheld against lateral movement by engagement with the brackets 28, whichform the outer vertical portions of the guides wherein said plates move.

The plates 26 are two in number and are arranged respectively beneaththe arms 10, they being rigidly connected to each other by means ofcross-bars 30 and 34 and by the shelf 25, which latter is rigidly boltedto the front extremities of the plates 26.

Connected to the axle of the wheels 12 are two retractile springs 29,which are extended parallel over the plates 26 and which are connectedto the cross-bar 30 thereof, so that the plates 26 will be given atendency to extend forward, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and infull lines in Fig. 5.

Fixed to the arms 10 at a point directly for ward of the platform of thecar A19 and extending transversely from one bar to the other is a rod3,5, on which the lever 32 is fulcrumed, and the said lever is pressedby a spring 36 which embraces the rod 35 and which is connected theretoand to the lever. The forward end of the lever 32 is provided with ahook 33 which is adapted to engage the bar 34, and by said engagement tohold the plates 26 against the tension of the springs 29. The rear endof the lever 32 is extended upwardly and pro- IOC vided with atransverse plate 37, upon which bears the vertically-movable trip-pin 3Sof the platform of the car. This trip is springpressed, as shown in Fig.1 of the drawings.

Vertically movable in passages formed in the respective arms l() is abar 39, the arms 40 of which project below the arms lO and are normallysupported by engagement with the respective plates 20, upon which theyare gravity-pressed. Vhen, however, the plates are projected forward, aswill be hereinafter explained,their rear extremities will be movedforward of the bar 39, and the arms 4L() thereof will drop below theplates 26 and operate to prevent their return, thereby positivel5Tsustaining the catcher or shelf. To return the catcher or shelf the bar39 should be lifted manually to disengage it from the catcher or shelf.

In the operation of my invention, when the car has run upon a person orother obstruction, and when parts of the obstruction or the arms orlimbs of the person become wedged under the fender, the attendant on theplatform of the car should press the trip-pin 38 downward, which willrelease the lever 32 and permit the springs 29 to project the shelf 25forward of the buffer ll, thereby forcing the wedged part out andpreventing the dragging of the same.

The device constructed as above described is extremely simple andinexpensive and is adapted to prevent persons from being jammed underand injured by the fender, since the fender itself, being secured at itsrear part to the car and supported on wheels at its forward end,effectually holds the sliding shelf above the track in position for useand out of engagement with the rails and pavement.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In acar-fender, the combination of two buffer-arms, brackets depending fromthe buffer-arms, rollers carried by the brackets7 two Aplates movablelongitudinally and supported by the rollers, a shelf carried by thefront extremities of the plates, a retractile spring connected with theplates, a hook retaining the plates, a trip-pin movable to operate thehook, and a U -shaped bar vertically movable in the buffer-arms andsupported by the plates when moved to the limit of their inwardmovement, substantially as described.

2. In a car-fender7 the combination with a frame, of a shelf movablelongitudinally in the frame, means for actuating the shelf, and aU-shaped bar movable vertically in the frame and supported by the shelfwhen thc shelf is moved to the limit of its inward movement,substantially as described.

3. In a car-fender, the combination of two plates mounted to slidelongitudinally under the car, a shelf carried by the front extremitiesof the plates, a spring connected to the plates and arranged to movesaid shelf forward when released, means for holding said shelf in placein a rearward position, and a verticallysmovable bar having its armsbent downward and adapted to rest at their lower ends upon the uppersides of the plates, said ends of the bar being adapted when the platesare moved forward to drop behind the rear ends of the plates and holdthe shelf and plates in a forward position, substantially as set forth.

CLARA M. BEEBE.

Titnesses R. L. GUroN, HARRY Lnwrs.

